For film fans, there are few questions more pressing than ‘who will be the next James Bond?’ Once a Bond is cast, the clock immediately starts ticking. When Daniel Craig was cast in the role in 2005 there was already much speculation about when he’d leave the part.

That speculation was kicked into high gear when, during a press tour for his most recent 007 outing, Spectre, Craig admitted to Time Out that he wasn’t interested in doing another Bond film.

“Now? I’d rather… slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.

“I don’t know what the next step is. I’ve no idea. Not because I’m trying to be cagey. Who the fuck knows? At the moment, we’ve done it. I’m not in discussion with anybody about anything. If I did another Bond movie, it would only be for the money.”

However, in an interview with Stephen Colbert in August 2017, Craig seemed to have changed his mind. He confirmed he would return for the 25th James Bond film, due out in cinemas in November 2019.

Craig also explained his previous answer:

“There is no point in making excuses about it, but it was two days after I finished shooting the last movie. I went straight into an interview and someone said, ‘Would you do another one?’ And I went, ‘No.’ And instead of saying something with style and grace, I gave a really stupid answer.”

However, Craig did confirm that it would be his very last outing as Bond.

Since The World Is Not Enough in 1999and Die Another Day in 2002, the average gap between Bond films has been three or four years. So, any new Bond probably wouldn’t actually appear on screen until 2022 at the earliest.

Still, that hasn’t stopped the speculation.

Barbara Broccoli’s insight on the next Bond after Daniel Craig:

Few people have quite as much insight into the question of the next James Bond as 57-year-old Barbara Broccoli. Broccoli is head of Eon Productions, the film studio behind the Bond movies. Broccoli has worked on Bond films since she was 17 due to her father, producer Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli being the previous head of Eon Productions.

More specifically, she has been the producer of every Bond film of both the Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig eras.

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While she isn’t technically personally involved in casting James Bonds, she has a huge amount of influence over the final choice.

In December 2017, Broccoli was asked by the Daily Mail whether a woman or a non-white actor could ever play Bond. Her response was far from definitive:

“These films tend to reflect the times so we always try to push the envelope a little bit. Anything is possible.

“Right now it’s Daniel Craig, and I’m very happy with Daniel Craig, but who knows what the future will bring?”

More than likely, that’s just savvy producer talk for ‘I haven’t made any decisions’ but it does mean that anything might be possible when it comes to casting the next Bond.

All bets are on:

It’s tempting to say ‘all bets are off’ when it comes to casting the next Bond, but that’s far from accurate. All bets are definitely still on, and bookies are offering plenty of odds on which actor may or may not play the next Bond.

However, there have been some new additions. James Norton is in contention after his starring role in BBC One series McMafia which aired 1st January 2018. In that series, he plays the son of two Russian mafioso parents who must battle shady underworld connections.

The full list from favourite to least likely can be found below.

Who do the bookies think star in a new Bond film?

Tom Hardy

Jack Huston

Aidan Turner

James Norton

Idris Elba

Tom Hiddleston

Any female

Michael Fassbender

Travis Fimmel

Henry Cavill

Riz Ahmed

Terence Howard

Andrew Lincoln

Jamie Bell

Mark Wright

Jack Lowden

Jack O’Connell

Cillian Murphy

Damian Lewis

Dan Stevens

Emily Blunt

Gillian Anderson

Jamie Dornan

Luke Evans

Matthew Goode

Taron Egerton

Matthew Macfadyen

Ryan Gosling

Sam Riley

Tom Hughes

Adrian Lester

Charlize Theron

David Oyelowo

John Boyega

Martin Freeman

Richard Madden

Rupert Friend

Angelina Jolie

Barry Sloane

Emilia Clarke

Megan Fox

Olivia Colman

Tom Ellis

Alex O Loughlin

Benedict Cumberbatch

Charlie Hunnam

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Chris Hemsworth

Dominic West

Dougray Scott

Jude Law

Orlando Bloom

Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Tim Roth

Vicky McClure

James Purefoy

Kit Harington

Kristen Stewart

Liev Schreiber

Nicholas Hoult

Sam Heughan

Brad Pitt

Christian Bale

Clive Owen

Eddie Redmayne

Gerard Butler

James McAvoy

Richard Armitage

Colin Salmon

Ewan McGregor

Hugh Jackman

Jason Statham

O T Fagbenle

Rupert Penry-Jones

Sam Worthington

Adrian Paul Hewett

Craig Fairbrass

Danny Dyer

David Walliams

Goran Visnjic

Guy Pearce

Hugh Grant

Jamie Foxx

Jeremy Renner

Julian McMahon

Leonardo DiCaprio

Liam Hemsworth

Matthew Lewis

Max Ryan

Philip Winchester

Robert Pattinson

Rufus Sewell

Rupert Everett

Colin Farrell

Colin Firth

Daniel Radcliffe

Eric Bana

Helen Mirren

Jon Hamm

Russell Crowe

Tom Felton

Vinnie Jones

Will Smith

Danny Welbeck

David Beckham

Dele Alli

Jamie Vardy

Matt Richardson

P Diddy

Robbie Williams

William Hague

How likely are any of these?

Honestly, you can probably rule out the vast majority of these. One thing that becomes very apparent when researching a list like this is that the bookies will offer odds on just about anyone to become ‘the next James Bond’.

Essentially, as long as an actor hasn’t categorically denied their interest in being Bond, they stand a chance, in the bookies eyes. James Norton’s odds suggest that just about anyone who has ever worn a suit and been in any kind of gritty crime-based thriller stands a shot. Just look at the list, Tom Hardy has Inception and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Jack Huston was in American Hustle, James Norton in McMafia, Idris Elba from Luther, and Tom Hiddleston had The Night Manager.

Even further out there’s Taron Egerton from the Bond parodying Kingsman films, Rupert Penry-Jones from Spooks, another BBC spy series, Olivia Coleman from Broadchurch, and both Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch from Sherlock.

It sounds sarcastic, but the barrier is really that low.

However, one thing that we probably should consider is that it’s unlikely to be any of the younger names on the list. The average age of actors cast as Bond is 37.5 years old. Of the four most recent Bonds, the average age is even higher: 41 years old.

It’s also worth considering that in the past every Bond has been a white man. As much as it’s tempting to read into Barbara Broccoli’s recent comments it seems reasonably unlikely that’ll change. Consider the controversy around Daniel Craig being the first ever blond Bond, and imagine how fans would react if there was an even bigger change. It might not necessarily be the right choice or even a mildly interesting one, but for Broccoli’s business it makes sense.